Dispute over parents' will allegedly leads to sister's murder
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Wash. -- A 50-year-old Arlington man was arrested Sunday for allegedly killing his sister during a dispute about their parents' last will and testament, sheriff's deputies said.
According to Snohomish County sheriff's deputies, the victim's son, Joel Harris, called police Saturday to report his mother had disappeared and that his uncle was acting strange and erratic following the death of his grandparents. The victim and her brother were known to frequently fight in regard to their parents' will.
Harris said he went over to his uncle's house to look for his mom and he found her car abandoned behind a barn. The car contained liquor bottles and ATM receipts -- Harris said his mother did not drink a lot of alcohol and the ATM receipts were not from her bank. When he spoke to his uncle, the man appeared despondent, high on drugs and was acting suspicious.
Harris called police Saturday and asked deputies to accompany him to his uncle's home. When they arrived, they allegedly found the suspect asleep in an idling car with a tube coming from the exhaust pipe through the car's window. Police shut off the suspect's vehicle and questioned the suspect. He allegedly told police he was trying to kill himself since his parents had recently died.
While waiting for ambulances to arrive, a deputy who was walking around the suspect's property allegedly noticed a blanket on the corner of the yard. The deputy then discovered a deceased female who appeared to have been murdered underneath the blanket.
Police interviewed the suspect's neighbors to determine if any of them had witnessed a crime. Neighbors told police they heard a woman scream sometime Friday, but did not report the incident. The suspect was also known to be a heavy drinker, police said, and had a history of domestic violence.
Police arrested the suspect Sunday for second-degree murder and domestic violence. He was booked into Snohomish County Jail.
The cause and manner of the woman's death is under investigation.